Their fathers won the Fourball nearly 40 years ago. Now these cousins are giving it a go.

DARTMOUTH — Mark and Chris Giusti have fond memories of following their fathers, Bob and Peter, around the course at the Country Club of New Bedford during the annual Fourball tournament as children.

Now it’s their turn.

The cousins are playing together in the Fourball for the first time this year and have gotten off to a strong start, winning their first two matches. On Wednesday, they defeated Joe Bean and Frank Annunziata, 2 & 1.

“So far so good,” Mark said. “It’s early in the week. We’ve played with two great teams and we’ve had a good time. The competition has been good.”

Chris agreed.

“Yesterday we played phenomenal,” he said of their 4 & 2 win over Joe Calabro and Jim Downing. “Today was kind of a grind, but we turned it on when we needed to and hit some clutch shots. We came through when the match was on the line. We were cutting each other with birdies on the last six holes. It was a real competitive and run match.”

FIRST ROUND: First-year partners turn heads with win at the 2023 CCNB Men's Fourball

Mark had played the Fourball the last few years with Justin Grolley before recently becoming a CCNB member himself.

“As a new member this year, I invited Chris up and we qualified,” he said. “First year we qualified, we won yesterday and we won today. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Chris said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play in the tournament even with it falling on the same week as the member-guest tournament at his own Country Club of Columbus.

“The club I'm at is a pretty prestigious club and it’s our member-guest this week and I said, ‘I was going to come up and play in this one,’” said Chris, who is from Tampa but is currently living in Georgia for work with the federal government. “I had never played this course until I came up last month and qualified.

"We used to come out when we were kids and we’d watch our fathers. I’ve always wanted to play this course and never had the chance so when Mark asked me, I was, ‘Oh, heck ya I want to play.’”

Mark Giusti has deep roots on the SouthCoast. He played golf for four years at Dartmouth High before graduating in 1997. His father, Bob, is the head pro at Allendale Country Club. 

“We’re family,” said Mark, a firefighter in Providence. “Our fathers played in this many years ago. They won it in 84.”

Chris added, “Our fathers were always making deep runs and one year they won it. They were perennial favorites.”

Knowing how difficult it is to win the Fourball, Mark and Chris are just taking it day-by-day and enjoying every moment.

“Chris and I have played well together and picked each other up when we needed to,” Mark said.

PELLETIERS BACK IN THE MIX

David and Kyle Pelletier are in a groove. After winning the 2021 CCNB Fourball championship, the father-son duo exited in the first round last year. They just punched their ticket to the third round with Wednesday’s 1-up win over Nick Abaray and Andrew Corrigan.

“We went to the extreme from winning it to losing three straight (matches),” said David. “We had the hangover I guess.”

LOOKING BACK Kyle and David Pelletier capture first CCNB Four-Ball title behind big round from Kyle

David said Wednesday’s match was a dogfight.

“Nobody went up by more than a hole,” he pointed out. “It’s the first time they’re playing in this. They have great attitudes. They never got upset. It was a pleasure to play with them.

“We were struggling today. We played better yesterday. Hopefully we find it sooner rather than later.”

David said getting to play golf with his son, Kyle, never gets old.

“As long as I can play it with my son, it’s a privilege,” he said. “We have a lot of fun, but it can be stressful too. There are a lot of good teams. Anybody can win on any given day. It’s a great tournament.”

NEVES AND SCULLY LOOK TO MAKE ANOTHER DEEP RUN

Tom Neves and Daniel Scully are the only team left standing that reached the 2022 Fourball semifinals.

They opened this year’s tournament by beating Dan Eilertsen and Jerry Lamontagne, 2 & 1, and then defeated Mark Franco and Ron Avilla 3 up on Wednesday.

SECOND ROUND RESULTS

Pelletier/Pelletier def. Abaray/Corrigan, 1 up

Giusti/Giusti def. Bean/Annunziata, 2 & 1

Rogers/DoCouto def. Gomes/Luiz, 4 & 3

Snell/Debortoli def. Visconti/Craig, 5 & 4

Hantman/Fernandes def. Allen/McCarthy, 2 up

Stickley/Hickman def. Nery/O’Connor, 2 & 1

Roberts/Coucci def. Zahn/Lombardi, 2 & 1

Miranda/Tavares def. Adao/Lindo, 1 up

Lafreniere/Guthrie def. Manzone/Blanchard, 1 up

Glassman/Meggison def. Lachapelle/Tennihan, 4 & 3

Neves/Scully def. Franco/Avilla, 3 up

Lees/Winn def. Costa/Munafo, 1 up

Mathes/Bonneau def. Nery/Barboza, 2 up

Simmons/Tavares def. Canto/McCarthy, 1 up

Koska/Rezendes def. Roberts/George, 4 up

Winterhalter/Clarke def. Saba/Eilertsen, 5 & 4

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Second round of the 2023 Country Club of New Bedford Fourball